Steven H. Swander, a champion of free speech, dies at 61

The First Amendment community recently lost an excellent lawyer and an even better human being with the recent death of Fort Worth, Texas-based attorney Steven H. Swander. Known to his colleagues as a “gentle giant,” Swander died on Nov. 24 at age 61.

Born in 1951 in Burbank, Calif., Swander earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Southern California and his law degree from Baylor University.

Swander, who had practiced law in Texas since 1976, recently served as the president of the First Amendment Lawyers Association, a group devoted to free-speech issues.

“With the death of Steve Swander, the legal community has lost a great champion of constitutional rights,” said Wayne Giampietro, a Chicago-based attorney and mainstay in FALA. “More importantly, we have all lost a good friend. Steve recently completed a term as president of the First Amendment Lawyers Association. That he was elected to that position by fellow attorneys who work to protect constitutional rights of freedom of speech and association is in itself a testament to his reputation among his peers.

“He was a first-rate attorney who championed those rights in a state where those rights were under constant attack,” Giampietro added. “He was one of the best attorneys I have been privileged to meet. He was a leader in that organization, respected by everyone he met.”

Swander regularly delivered presentations at FALA meetings on licensing and zoning issues — often with the skilled Gary Edinger, who practices law in Gainesville, Fla.

Swander represented many clients in the adult-entertainment industry — a difficult area to practice given that such businesses are a politically popular target. In 1995 he prevailed in an interesting zoning case involving a client who had obtained a license to operate an adult business under the name “the Executive Room.” His client had spent more than $100,000 to remodel the property before learning the night before opening that the license was revoked because the business was within 1,000 feet of a church. According to city officials, the “church” was located within the Bowie County Correctional Center, a prison.

Swander successfully convinced a federal district court judge that the religious services in the prison did not qualify as a church under the city’s zoning law. Swander pointed out that family members were not allowed to participate in the worship services and that city officials weren’t even aware of the worship services. The judge agreed in Hooters, Inc. v. City of Texarkana, 897 F.Supp. 946 (E. D. Tex. 1995), writing that “nobody involved in this dispute, including representatives of the city, was even aware of any religious activity taking place” at the prison.

In another case — MDII Entertainment v. Dallas (5th Cir. 1994)—– Swander successfully challenged parts of an ordinance that prohibited businesses offering semi-nude dancing from using certain terms in their advertising, such as “gentleman’s club.” The federal appeals court noted that “the city relied on no studies showing a link between advertising and property values or crime.”

“His work in the ‘real’ world was far from abstract,” Edinger said. “Steve actively litigated some of the toughest First Amendment issues for unpopular clients before very unsympathetic courts. Strip clubs are simply not the ‘sexiest’ of clients when you are litigating before a skeptical federal judge. Steve was particularly skilled at identifying arcane legal attacks (sometimes using state constitutional protections) which were overlooked by other attorneys.”

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THE EXPERTS

The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.

Ken Paulson is president of the First Amendment Center and dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. He is also the former editor-in-chief of USA Today.

Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, also is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center, a center of the institute. He is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.

John Seigenthaler founded the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.

About The First Amendment Center

We support the First Amendment and build understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment.

The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the government.

Founded by John Seigenthaler, the First Amendment Center is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. The center has offices in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The center’s website, www.firstamendmentcenter.org, is one of the most authoritative sources of news, information and commentary in the nation on First Amendment issues. It features daily updates on news about First Amendment-related developments, as well as detailed reports about U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment, and commentary, analysis and special reports on free expression, press freedom and religious-liberty issues. Support the work of the First Amendment Center.

1 For All

1 for All is a national nonpartisan program designed to build understanding and support for First Amendment freedoms. 1 for All provides teaching materials to the nation’s schools, supports educational events on America’s campuses and reminds the public that the First Amendment serves everyone, regardless of faith, race, gender or political leanings. It is truly one amendment for all. Visit 1 for All at http://1forall.us/

Help tomorrow’s citizens find their voice: Teach the First Amendment

The most basic liberties guaranteed to Americans – embodied in the 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – assure Americans a government that is responsible to its citizens and responsive to their wishes.

These 45 words are as alive and important today as they were more than 200 years ago. These liberties are neither liberal nor conservative, Democratic nor Republican – they are the basis for our representative democratic form of government.

We know from studies beginning in 1997 by the nonpartisan First Amendment Center, and from studies commissioned by the Knight Foundation and others, that few adult Americans or high school students can name the individual five freedoms that make up the First Amendment.

The lesson plans – drawn from materials prepared by the Newseum and the First Amendment Center – will draw young people into an exploration of how their freedoms began and how they operate in today’s world. Students will discuss just how far individual rights extend, examining rights in the school environment and public places. The lessons may be used in history and government, civics, language arts and journalism, art and debate classes. They may be used in sections or in their entirety. Many of these lesson plans indicate an overall goal, offer suggestions on how to teach the lesson and list additional resources and enrichment activities.

First Amendment Moot Court Competition

This site no longer is being updated … And the competition itself is moving to Washington, D.C., where the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center is co-sponsoring the “Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition,” March 18-19, in partnership with the Columbus School of Law, of the Catholic University of America.

During the two-day competition in February, each team will participate in a minimum of four rounds, arguing a hypothetical based on a current First Amendment controversy before panels of accomplished jurists, legal scholars and attorneys.

FIRST AMENDMENT CENTER ARCHIVES

State of the First Amendment survey reports

The State of the First Amendment surveys, commissioned since 1997 by the First Amendment Center and Newseum, are a regular check on how Americans view their first freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition.

The periodic surveys examine public attitudes toward freedom of speech, press, religion and the rights of assembly and petition; and sample public opinion on contemporary issues involving those freedoms.
See the reports.